The National Women's Martial Arts Federation (NWMAF) Self-Defense Instructors Conference (SDIC) will begin on Wednesday, July 20th and, new this year, will continue through the end of Special Training (ST) Sunday, July 24th. As in the past, the Self-Defense Empowerment Model Course (SDEMC) will be led by a team of certified self-defense instructors and is required by those seeking NWMAF self-defense certification and open to those looking to learn about NWMAF's empowerment model of self-defense. SDIC is looking to create an exciting program with a balance of physical, interactive, and lecture format sessions. The goals include having a conference, which reflects the values implicit in the feminist/social justice empowerment model of self-defense. These values include the core competencies that focus on understanding the culture of violence and gender-based violence, interconnections of racism, classism, and sexism, LGBTQ inclusion and inclusion of a range of physical abilities and ages.

This year's Harry Frank Guggenheim symposium at John Jay College focuses on America's courts and their increasingly critical role in advancing or standing in the way of criminal justice change. At both the federal and state levels, they are at the center of new, transformative approaches to public safety and justice delivery systems. At the same time, they are often the source of huge inefficiencies, backlogs and even corruption which (ironically) prevent the successful realization of such change. Symposium panels and speakers will also focus on other issues likely to dominate the conversation and policy debates (and coverage) of criminal justice in 2011 led by the continuing budget crisis that continues to affect local and state spending on public safety and corrections. Can we do more with less?Register online now!

Panel Discussion with Q&A Featuring:
Nancy Schwartzman is a filmmaker, writer, and activist, whose focus is on sex and communication. She is the director of the documentary THE LINE and the founder of the THE LINE Campaign, which empowers young people to re-envision their intimate relationships. She lectures worldwide on the topic of consent and boundaries.

Joseph Samalin is the Coordinator of Training & Technical Assistance at Men Can Stop Rape and has been actively working against gender-based violence for over 15 years. He has worked with Safe Horizon’s Anti-Stalking Program, teen dating violence awareness organization Day One, and the New York City Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence.

Kelly McBride, of the Poynter Institute, is a writer, teacher, and the leading voice in American journalism on how the media covers sexual assault. As a reporter, she covered issues ranging from white supremacy to the Catholic Church’s abuse scandal. Her expertise has been quoted by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN, among others.

Andrea (AJ) Plaid is the Sexual Correspondent for the race-and-pop culture blog Racialicious. She is also co-edits blog's upcoming Love, Anonymously blog carnival, which will feature posts on and by people of color regarding love and sex. Her discussions on race, gender, and sex have been featured in Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, andBitch as well as on GRITtv's "Chew on This" segment. Her work has been republished, among other online sites, Penthouse, WireTap Magazine, New American Media, and RaceWire. She is currently working on a post for AlterNet about the economics of interracial porn. She owns her own safer-sex kit company called Freak Kits.

Men Can Stop Rape (MCSR)’s comprehensive “From Theory to Practice” Training has equipped thousands of professionals and activists in engaging men and boys to prevent sexual and dating violence. This January 2011, MCSR will hold two "From Theory to Practice" trainings – one in DC (January 5-7) and the other in New York City (January 19-21). Topics that will be addressed include: social change theory as it relates to preventing gender-based violence, the application of MCSR’s Strength Campaign to communities, public speaking strategies, engaging men and boys, the intersections between oppressions, and bystander intervention strategies. Upon completion of the training each participant will receive a 50+ page training manual (includes presentation and facilitation guides), access to a network of professionals in this field, and discounts for future trainings and for our public awareness materials. Our trainings only allow for 20-25 participants so register online now!

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